By Amy Wenk

After months of behind-the-scenes negotiating with the developers of The Streets of Buckhead project, being spearheaded by Ben Carter, the board of Neighborhood Planning Unit-B on Jan. 8 reviewed and approved measures to expand the special overlay district, establish sidewalk requirements and allow a hotel to be built as part of new mixed-use development on the site of the former Three Dollar Café.

NPU-B reviewed two ordinances regarding Special Public Interest Zoning District 9 (SPI-9) in the Buckhead Village Overlay District designed to incorporate a block of property to SPI-9 that was not originally part of The Streets of Buckhead redevelopment project.

The first amendment “is to add property on the west side of Pharr Road,” said City of Atlanta Planner Jessica Lavandier. “So we are going to extend the SPI regulations to encompass the entire development.”

The other ordinance makes amendments to the sidewalk requirements for the SPI-9 Buckhead Village Overlay District.

“It is to make sure streetscapes in the village are implemented on that portion as well,” said NPU-B Development and Transportation Chairwoman Sally Silver. “What it does is it sets the standards for green zones, sidewalk widths, street trees and street furniture.”

The NPU-B board also approved a zoning request by Buckhead Avenues Development Co., LLC regarding a special use permit to build a hotel as part of a mixed-use development at 3002 Peachtree Road, where the now-closed Three Dollar Café building is located.

The request was approved with 14 conditions, including a provision requiring the applicant to donate right-of-way along Peachtree Road for the purpose of adding a 10-foot northbound left turn lane and a four-foot raised median.

Another of the restrictions requires that non-residential development on the site, excluding hotel uses, be held to a maximum of 380,000 square feet. If no hotel or residential uses are developed on the site, the maximum amount of non-residential is restricted to 250,000 square feet. The residential is restricted to a maximum of 283 hotel rooms or residential units on the site.

Other residential zoning applications were approved for Garden Hills resident Robert Radics, Dan Campbell and Robert DeFiore of Pine Hills, as well as Joseph Jordan, a resident of Peachtree Hills. In addition, the board approved a change of licensee request by William Goudey of Copeland’s restaurant, located at 3365 Piedmont Road in Buckhead.

The NPU-B board also reviewed an ordinance to change the name of the Piedmont Park Tennis Center to the Sharon E. Lester Tennis Center at Piedmont Park. Lester was the former tennis facility supervisor and, according to the city of Atlanta, boasted many achievements before she died in November 2007.

The NPU board was meeting for its first regular meeting of 2008 at a new location, the Hyland Center at The Cathedral of Christ The King on Peachtree Road. Their previous meeting location, The Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Buckhead, is currently undergoing renovations.

With the beginning of the new year, NPU-B welcomed new board members and announced committee assignments. All of the standing committee chairs remained the same as last year.

Kendall Craig will serve as chairwoman and Jim Cosgrove as vice chairman for the Public Safety Committee. The Development and Transportation Committee will be headed by Sally Silver, with Stephanie McGarity serving as vice chair. Anthony Nievara will lead the Zoning and Land Use Committee and Bob Connelly will serve as vice chairman. The board also elected Mark Tiller as recorder and Barbara Delk as treasurer.